Apparatus for thrusting a hose along a conduit
AssigneeAirrigation Engineering Company, Inc.
InventorsWilliam A. Mansfield, Frank O. Martinez, Steven E. Richardson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus for pushing a hose along a conduit includes a rotatable reel, a hose wound on the reel, and a driving arrangement for drawing the hose off the reel and for pushing the hose into and along a conduit. The apparatus can also include an arrangement attached to a leading end of the hose for permitting the leading end of the hose to roll along the interior surface of the conduit. Also, a guide can be positioned in the access opening to the conduit in order to permit the hose to move more easily through sharp turns.
Claims30
An apparatus for moving a hose along a conduit and for withdrawing the hose from the conduit, comprising
- a transport vehicle;
- a rotatable reel mounted on the transport vehicle;
- a semi-rigid hose wound on the rotatable reel, said semi-rigid hose having a leading end portion whose plastic memory characteristics are different from the plastic memory characteristics of a remaining portion thereof;
- powered driving means mounted on the transport vehicle for drawing the semi-rigid hose off the rotatable reel and for driving the semi-rigid hose in a forward direction into and along a conduit;
- rotating means connected to said rotatable reel for rotating said rotatable reel in a direction necessary for causing the semi-rigid hose to be withdrawn from the conduit and wound on the rotatable reel;
- and
- rolling means connected to a leading end of the semi-rigid hose for freely rolling along an inner surface of the conduit to help prevent the movement of the semi-rigid hose through the conduit from being impeded as a result of obstacles and obstructions in the conduit.
An apparatus for pushing a hose along a conduit, comprising:
- a rotatable reel;
- a hose wound on the rotatable reel;
- and
- powered driving means for driving the hose off the rotatable reel and for driving the hose in a forward direction into and along a conduit, said powered driving means being positioned to engage the hose at a point downstream from the rotatable reel with respect to the forward direction of movement of the hose.
An apparatus for use in treating an interior of a conduit, comprising:
- a rotatable shaft;
- a semi-rigid hose wound on said reel;
- powered driving means for drawing the semi-rigid hose off the rotatable reel and for driving the semi-rigid hose in a forward direction into and along a conduit;
- rolling means connected to a leading end of the semi-rigid hose for freely rolling along an interior surface of the conduit to help prevent the movement of the hose through the conduit from being impeded as a result of obstacles and obstructions in the conduit;
- a container containing material for treating the interior of the conduit;
- and
- means for pumping the material in the container through the semi-rigid hose to treat the interior of the conduit with said material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.